Pages

A blog about my life, fitness and fun! (...and maybe a few cat pictures...)

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Day In My Life (Wed, 9-20-17)

My alarm went off at 5:30. I felt Jelly at my feet, so I sat up in bed to pet him while I stretched my feet and ankles. This happens every morning, sort of like Groundhog Day!I made my way to the kitchen, where I discovered there was absolutely NO COFFEE in our house! The horror! I had to drive down to McDonald's and get a large coffee. Boy are the workers at the McDonald's on Rossmoyne Road polite! It was 5:37am but they were as chipper as can be!

I only had a little bit of time to drink my coffee before my run. This was my first run after the Dam Half so I was nervous to see how I felt. My legs were tired and a little sore, but that's it. I ran a 1.5 mile loop around my neighborhood 4 times. More Groundhog Day!

When I got home, the kitties were waiting for me! I stretched, got ready for work, threw some treats at the boys, brushed Chrissy's teeth and out the door I went. I ate my cereal in the car.

Teachers arrive at school at 7:55 and the kids get there at 8:40. In the morning, we have meetings, duties, or planning time. I didn't have any meetings today, so I had time to get my room ready for the morning! I had to move a lot of chairs, set up instruments and get out music stands. I got all ready for my first couple classes before I had duty.

My duty is standing at the bottom of the main stairwell while the 3rd and 4th graders head to their classrooms. I just make sure they don't run or jump down the steps. Yet every morning, there is at least one kid that jumps down the steps... right in front of me! "Go up and try again," I say to them. Every morning. Groundhog Day!All of my classes, regardless of grade level, are 40 minutes long. My first class of the day was 3rd Grade. They're singing 50 Nifty United States and doing a dance to it. I made the dance up YEARS ago and it is a tradition that I teach the song and dance to the 3rd graders. It is fun because if they have older siblings, they learned the same routine. Then we did a fun activity where we wrote rhythms to chant our names.

Somewhere in here I had a banana for a snack...Then 4th grade came in and it was time to do the Boomin' Blues! I got out the boomwhackers, drums, egg shakers, and rhythm sticks. We learned the song and then the students took turns switching and doing different instruments. We recorded their performance for my classroom's Facebook page- "EP Music Kids". So if you ever wanted to be a fly on the wall in my room, "like" the page and you can see what we do!

11:15 = LUNCH TIME! (BBQ chicken and baby carrots.) I know, my lunch is early. My lunch and plan were back to back this day so it felt like I had a nice long break. Sometimes I eat lunch in the faculty room so I can talk with my colleagues and sometimes I eat at my desk. Today I sat in the faculty room for about 10 minutes but then I had to go get ready for chorus and set up my lessons for the rest of the afternoon. Oh, I also squeezed in time to sign up for a race!

My chorus is so nice this year. It's on the smaller side (50 kids), but I won't complain about it. I have had 80 kids in chorus before, and obviously that's a lot harder to manage! I think more kids will sign up after they see our winter concert and then I'll have 60-70.

After chorus, I had a little break because the 1st graders went on a field trip to the apple orchard. I used my time productively by getting "Emergency Sub Plans" ready. I always have lesson plans and materials out for a sub, but what if it's not a music certified sub, or someone who is not comfortable teaching my music lesson plans? I like to have emergency plans ready so the day goes smoothly. For a teacher, it's a lot of work to not be at school!

I'm sure this isn't totally true!

Then it was an afternoon of first grade classes and 4th grade classes. I had a little extra time with first grade so they did some dance along videos on the Smartboard. It was so funny to watch them dance.I dismissed a 4th grade class for another teacher, but at 3:40 I was out of there! I leave right when the school day is over. My philosophy: There is ALWAYS more to do. It doesn't matter if I stay an extra hour or an extra four hours... so I may as well go home and recharge for the next day!I stopped by Aldi, the liquor store, and the beer distributor on my way home... just to do some general stocking up. I surprised Paul with some Sierra Nevadas!

Then it was CHILLAX time! I got on my computer, put on a podcast, and just did whatever. I had a small bowl of white chicken chili and some corn chips. My kitties chilled with me.

Later, while Paul and I were playing cards, he got some good news from Johns Hopkins. Every four months he gets an MRI, and he just had one two days ago. The results came back and all is good. Yay!!!!

We still hadn't had dinner so it was time to eat. Christmas is always up in my business when I make food. He wonders, could it be for him!? I had a salad with lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheddar, cheese curls, and lite ranch dressing. No dessert. I was too invested in the Big Brother Finale!

That's right, it was the two hour season finale of Big Brother 19! I was sure Paul would win (vomit) but JOSH PULLED IT OUT!!! I was so happy! In fact, by the end of the episode, my voice was raw from screaming with joy and I had a pounding headache... even though I drank 4 cans of seltzer water! You gotta hydrate during reality TV finales...

Paul and I were both so pumped. We didn't finish the finale until 10:30 and then I just had to watch the backyard interviews because Dr. Will was interviewing the house guests. Guys, I was up waaaaay too late... past midnight! But I had to see the after show!

Today was a typical Wednesday except for staying up super late for the finale. I love the days I don't have piano lessons and I can run errands after work and then just relax!

Is there a day of the week you can come home from work and just chill? I live for Wednesdays! Well, and Fridays. :)Are there any TV shows you would be willing to stay up past midnight on a work night for?

13 comments:

So does every teacher have the same plan in the morning? Is that your only one? Your students are lucky they don't have to be there real early but I remember when I worked down that way elementary students came later but they had to stay later too than middle school! I will definitely follow your FB page as I always think it would be cool to be a student in your class cus you seem to keep things fun! Hey, do you ever show the 50 states song? Actually it's on youtube as Tour the States official music video. My kids love it! You have reminded me that I do indeed need to do emergency sub plans! I thought about that last night. And I do believe you are right, it's definitely more work to stay home than it is to come to school!

Our students come later and stay later than the middle school and HS too. It doesn't make sense because teenagers need more sleep and elem kids do better getting up early, but I think it has to do with sports... the older kids need out earlier so they can get their games in. Yes every teacher has 7:55-8:40 BUT we often have meetings and duties. I used to have a duty every morning from 8:25-8:50... it sucked. I do get a plan later in the day too since they can't technically count the morning time as our plan since we sometimes have other things scheduled.

We are learning 50 nifty United states now! If you check out my page, you will see some videos of it. :) The state video you shared with me always comes on after the 50 nifty song on Youtube and some of my kids watched it at home. I am watching it now and I love it! Maybe I will show it to my kids today. :) Thank you for sharing that with me!

Paul makes our iced coffee, but there was none made. Normally I have keurig for back up but I was all out! I need my coffee so I can poop a good 2-3 times before I run. :)

Thank you, the skirt is from NY&Co and was only $15!

I try to be happy at stair duty. I like to see what clothes everyone is wearing. The new thing with boys now is wearing bright colored high thick socks with their gym shorts. I think it looks weird but it is apparently all the rage... Do the boys at your son's school wear them?

I get the feeling you do not like chill days. :) I enjoy them immensely!!!!

Yay!! for Paul test!! Great news :) No, I do belive trying to plan for a sub is harder lol and of course nothing will ever be done as well as well with a sub... It is hard when teachers are out, I get a lot "visitors" who aren't behaving in class. They come sit by me..ugh lol

I'm so excited for the new shows this week! We'll be watching Survivor on Thursday though, it's our tradition. I'm looking forward to Will and Grace coming back too. I could just sit my butt on the couch all week to watch the shows!! (but sadly I won't get to). That's great news for Paul. Yeah!!

I know what you mean about Groundhog Day. I do the same routes in my neighborhood because I know their distances. I have the same morning routine, and my cat knows it. She knows my evening routine too.